The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

by Keith Houston

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Bibliophiles, listen up! From writing to printing to binding and more, this is a comprehensive exploration of one of our favorite things.

"A masterful and overwhelmingly entertaining volume." —Clea Simon, Boston Globe

In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324086352
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/29/2025
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Keith Houston is the author of Face with Tears of Joy, Empire of the Sum, Shady Characters, and The Book. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and on Mental Floss, BBC Culture, and Literary Hub. He lives in Linlithgow, Scotland.

Editorial Reviews

"A love letter to the physical book, this is a fascinating and erudite telling of how it came into being…Hugely enlightening."

The Yorkshire Post - Tory Lyne-Pirkis

"Splendidly comprehensive and tactile."

The Herald - Russell Leadbetter

"Savor this deeply researched love letter to every bibliophiles favorite thing…a scholarly and light-hearted review of everything you want to know on the origins of the written language, the media upon which it is captured, and its methods of illustration, reproduction, and distribution."

Washington Independent Review of Books - Jennifer Bort Yacovissi

"Mr. Houston savors evocative detail…As befits its subject, The Book is pleasingly designed—with an offbeat self-consciousness about its sturdy appearance—and Mr. Houston’s unapologetic nerdiness is matched by a jaunty style…Mr. Houston is an eager, affable guide, and his detailed history is a welcome reminder that this ‘unrepentantly analog contraption’ is one of the truly great pieces of technology."

Wall Street Journal - Henry Hitchings

"[A] masterful and overwhelmingly entertaining volume, both an homage to the book and one itself to be cherished by readers everywhere."

The Boston Globe - Clea Simon

"Everybody who has ever read a book will benefit from the way Keith Houston explores the most powerful object of our time. And everybody who has read it will agree that reports of the book’s death have been greatly exaggerated."

Erik Spiekermann

"A lovingly designed and illustrated deep history of the book."— John Williams New York Times

"Mr. Houston savors evocative detail…As befits its subject, The Book is pleasingly designed—with an offbeat self-consciousness about its sturdy appearance—and Mr. Houston’s unapologetic nerdiness is matched by a jaunty style…Mr. Houston is an eager, affable guide, and his detailed history is a welcome reminder that this ‘unrepentantly analog contraption’ is one of the truly great pieces of technology."— Henry Hitchings Wall Street Journal

"If you love books, love the feel of a book in your hands, the heft and smell, the swish of a turned page and the satisfying thump of the cover—and you must or you wouldn't be reading this—have I got the book for you…The bookiest of books…Houston…writes with zest. He's an enthusiast if not an obsessive, with a voracious appetite for details, from the daily grind in a medieval scriptorium to the intricate workings of a modern offset press…The Book is nothing if not user-friendly."— Bill Marvel Dallas Morning News

"Invitingly tactile…Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-color illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity’s most important—and universal—information technology."— Book Reporter

"[A] masterful and overwhelmingly entertaining volume, both an homage to the book and one itself to be cherished by readers everywhere."— Clea Simon Boston Globe

"Hun­dreds of books about books have been pub­lished dur­ing the past cen­tury. . . I will not claim that this one is the very best of all time. Yet The Book is pos­sibly the best of our time."— Steven Heller Eye Magazine

"This witty and mischievous tome traces the evolution from papyrus to paperback in 448 pages. It’s an optimistic ode to one of mankind’s greatest inventions, which continues to thrive even against the onslaught of e-readers."— Monocle

"Savor this deeply researched love letter to every bibliophiles favorite thing…a scholarly and light-hearted review of everything you want to know on the origins of the written language, the media upon which it is captured, and its methods of illustration, reproduction, and distribution."— Jennifer Bort Yacovissi Washington Independent Review of Books

"Erudite, playful, and illuminating…Houston is both witty and intensely detailed, thus appealing both to general readers and to bibliophiles who will wish to know the specifics of making papyrus, of stitching together pages, and of learning how we arrived at today's paper sizes…A splendid, challenging mixture of information and fun."— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Houston’s fixation with this object is a delight, and his understanding of how history is written and his clear delineation between speculation and established fact are very refreshing."— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This engaging volume should satisfy a wide cross-section of book lovers, history buffs, and those interested in the dynamic relationship among language, the written word, and human ingenuity."— Rebecca Brody Library Journal

"A love letter to the physical book, this is a fascinating and erudite telling of how it came into being…Hugely enlightening."— Tory Lyne-Pirkis The Yorkshire Post

"Splendidly comprehensive

and tactile."— Russell Leadbetter The Herald

"We bibliomaniacs have a soulmate in Keith Houston…riveting."— Alan Taylor Scottish Review of Books

"Keith Houston's deft history of the object wraps entire civilizations into the telling, propelling us through the evolution of writing, printing, binding and illustration with gusto."— Barbara Kiser, books and arts editor of Nature

"Everybody who has ever read a book will benefit from the way Keith Houston explores the most powerful object of our time. And everybody who has read it will agree that reports of the book’s death have been greatly exaggerated."— Erik Spiekermann, professor, University of the Arts Bremen

From the Publisher